Drone to $1K Podcast: Season 3, Episode 7
In this week's episode, Philip Hurst of Philip Hurst Media talks about how he went from a full-time architecture job to a full-time job as an entrepreneur.
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== Podcast Summary ==
Introduction
Philip was working for an architectural company and had the idea of using a drone for roof inspections.
Philip felt like he was really onto something with drones.
He pitched the idea of incorporating more drone work into his job to his boss, but nothing ever really came of it.
In the meantime, Philip had been posting his drone work (cinematic videography, 3D mapping, photography, etc.) on Instagram, and it was catching people’s attention.
People were reaching out to him, asking if he would do drone work for them.
Philip knew he needed to get his Part 107 license so that he could start accepting these jobs and making money. Within a month of getting his drone, he took and passed the Part 107 Exam.
Philip was able to get enough business to quit his architecture job, start an LLC, and fly drones full time!
He dedicated lots of time to practicing flying and taking photos and videos.
He also spent time branding his business and adding more and more content to his Instagram page.
David: When you were still working at the architectural firm and starting to use drones for roof inspections, was that when you started practicing a lot?
Philip was practicing during his lunch breaks at work. He actually had his first accident during one of his lunch break flights – on the first day he had his drone!
Philip took his drone everywhere. Whenever he had a free moment, he would grab his drone and start practicing.
David: What was the first job you ever got? Did you reach out to people or did someone come to you?
Philip races mountain bikes and knew one of the promoters of a big race. The promoter reached out to him and asked if he could get some drone footage of the race.
After that, Philip went on Zillow and found $500,000+ homes. Then, he sent emails to the real estate agents that listed those homes and let them know that he would shoot footage of their listings for free.
He ended up landing about 15 jobs from that email outreach.
Out of those 15, about 8 of them have become routine clients for Philip.
Philip says that being willing to do free work is very important because it will be hard to land jobs if you don’t have a portfolio of previous work to show your potential clients.
“When I send them to my Instagram, the proof is in my work.”
Philip sends his potential clients to his Instagram page to see his work. BUT, he also sends them to other drone pilot’s Instagram pages and shows them what they SHOULDN’T want from the drone pro they hire.
Philip is also branching out into other industries. Some of his friends are shooting a pilot for ABC and they asked him to capture some establishing drone shots.
Philip emphasizes that he started about 6 months ago. It’s awesome to see how much his business has grown in just half a year.
He says that his drone is one of his most powerful tools.
Philip says that you need to make potential clients feel confident in choosing to hire you as a drone pilot.
He also stresses that you need to be posting on all social media platforms. But, you can tailor your messaging on each platform.
For Instagram, Philip will post short, 15-second clips or stories. His Instagram grid is a bit more curated.
For LinkedIn, Philip likes to have his feed look a little more polished.
As far as TikTok goes, Philip says, “If you’re not on TikTok, you’re missing the boat.” He says it’s a great place to brand yourself.
He says that networking is very important. If you want to be successful, get to know successful people. You never know who someone may be friends with or who they might be able to introduce you to.
Strive to become known as “the drone guy” or “the drone gal” in your town so that people will immediately think of you whenever they (or someone they know) need drone work.
Philip can do interior and exterior photos (including HDLR photos with bracketing, flash photography, and editing), virtual staging, virtual tours/360 Matterport tours, 3D exterior mapping, cinematography (both aerial and ground), and walk-through video tours.
For aerial photos, Philip charges $250/hour. His starting price for a video (for an up to $400,000 house) is $350. For each house, he’ll probably do around 20-50 photos. For 50 photos (which are edited and use HDLR, flash photography, removal of chips on walls, and other high-touch edits), he charges about $400.
David: You said you started about 6 months ago. What would you say is your average revenue per month?
Philip says that he’s making about $3,000/month.
Resources:
Facebook: Philip Hurst Media
Instagram: @philiphurstmedia
YouTube: Philip Hurst Media
